GASTONIA, N.C. — President Donald Trump spoke to a packed rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, on Wednesday night, seeking to build momentum for Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections, particularly U.S. Senate hopeful Michael Whatley.
“The golden age of America is upon us, but you must get out and vote and vote for Michael Whatley,” Trump told the crowd.
The rally gave Trump an early test of his influence in the midterm campaign as he works to help Whatley, his handpicked Republican Senate candidate and former national party chairman, close the gap with Democratic contender and former Gov. Roy Cooper.
Trump and Whatley embraced onstage and delivered sharp attacks against Cooper during the president’s first campaign rally since the unusual midterm convention in Dallas. Despite voter concerns about the Iran war and his handling of the economy, Trump has pledged to make dozens of additional campaign appearances in the weeks ahead.
“In this election, I’m asking you to pretend I’m on the ballot just one more time,” Trump said.
The Gastonia visit was Trump’s first campaign rally since the Dallas midterm convention, where Whatley also addressed attendees.
“The Dallas event was great because it was an opportunity to use that stage to speak to all the families and communities across North Carolina — that’s what we’re going to do here today with the president in town,” Whatley said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.
Before Trump took the stage, the president spoke exclusively with ABC 11 and praised Whatley’s record as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
“(Whatley’s) a good man. He’s a great, great person. So good, in fact, that when I won North Carolina the second time, the third time — I won all the times, including three primaries, so it’s 6-0, but Michael Whatley was there, and I said, if I get in, if I do this again, we’re going to use Michael Whatley; he’s going to be the chairman of the party. I made him chairman of the party, and I told my daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who’s really popular here by the way, they did a phenomenal job. And Lara will tell you Michael Whatley is brilliant. He’s tough, he’s smart. He won’t stand for crime,” Trump said.
Trump defended his economic record while acknowledging that gas prices are “a little higher” because of the war in Iran. He argued, however, that the increase was “a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done.” Preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Trump said, would be worth the cost “even if it was a lot more.”
Trump’s active role in the midterm elections presents a challenge for Republicans such as Whatley. The Senate candidate must draw strong support from the president’s core voters while also appealing to North Carolinians who have grown frustrated with the administration over inflation and the Iran war.
Whatley showed no hesitation about aligning himself closely with Trump on Wednesday, despite the president’s declining popularity.
“I am honored that we are going to have the greatest president of our lifetime, Donald J. Trump, here in Gaston County tonight,” Whatley said before Trump arrived at the rally.
Whatley was Trump’s choice for the Senate contest and previously had his backing to lead the Republican National Committee. Republicans saw him as a strong candidate to retain the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis, who chose not to seek reelection after clashing with Trump last year. However, Whatley is running for public office for the first time and has lagged behind Cooper in both fundraising and summer polling, with Cooper holding at least a narrow advantage.
Attorney General Todd Blanche also addressed the crowd, highlighting the White House’s focus on helping Whatley win the race. His appearance marked the latest instance of Trump’s top law enforcement official departing from tradition to participate in partisan campaign events.
Democrats have not won a Senate contest in the state since 2008, and Trump carried North Carolina in all three of his presidential campaigns, but the seat is critical to Democrats’ effort to flip control of the Senate. Cooper was perhaps Democrats’ best recruit this cycle, having never lost a statewide race in North Carolina over four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor, winning both in the same elections in which Trump carried North Carolina.
Trump and Whatley unload on Cooper
The president mocked Democrats’ rhetoric about affordability, saying they “made up” the word. Whatley nodded at voters’ economic angst but blamed Democrats for the problem.
“When it comes to our economy, and we talk about affordability, we talk about high prices, we talk about the ditch that Roy Cooper and Joe Biden put America in with the economy,” Whatley said.
Both Republicans unloaded on Cooper’s tenure as governor, with Trump recycling an inaccurate claim to blame Cooper for a grisly North Carolina murder and accusing him of doing nothing to help the state after Hurricane Helene inflicted widespread damage in 2024.
“You’ve got to remember this, two things, crime and Helene,” Trump said.
As he has before, Trump suggested that Cooper was responsible for the 2025 stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old who fled Ukraine. The man charged with the crime, Decarlos Brown Jr., had served time in prison and been committed for schizophrenia. But contrary to Trump’s claim that “he was released by Cooper,” Brown was not freed early under any Cooper policy.
The president also recycled his attacks that Cooper “did nothing” after Helene. Cooper has long rejected that accusation, pointing to the work state and local governments did with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Trump has since attempted to gut.
When Trump wasn’t attacking Cooper, he cast the midterms as a dire national choice if Republicans lose their control on Capitol Hill.
“If we lose, you’re going to lose your border, you’re going to lose your tax cuts, you’re going to lose your wealth,” he said, “and our country is going to go through hell.”
Whatley needs more than Trump loyalists
Republican pollster Paul Shumaker, who worked on Tillis’s and North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd’s campaigns, said Trump will energize Republicans who may not be as excited about the campaign as Democrats are. But he noted that registered Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina are split about evenly, while independent voters outnumber both. That cohort of more than 3.5 million voters, he said, is more concerned about the economy, an issue where Trump is weaker than he was in 2024, than with crime or immigration, issues where North Carolina Republicans might still have an advantage over Democrats.
“They see the White House more focused on everything but the economy,” Shumaker said. “So that narrative has to change to give them a path here in North Carolina.”
Whatley has made some efforts to broaden his appeal.
During a brief speech at the Dallas convention, Whatley promoted Republicans’ healthcare policies and praised Trump’s agenda, especially the tax cuts included in his “big beautiful bill” last year. But instead of lavishing praise on the president himself, he spent most of his time unloading on Cooper.
Democrats focus on the economy and Whatley’s problems
Cooper’s campaign pushed back against Whatley’s criticisms and noted that the Republican has faced scrutiny for recently having a convicted sex offender offer the opening prayer at one of his campaign events.
Whatley, meanwhile, is leaning heavily on Trump and national Republican donors to reach voters on television and online. According to data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising, total Republican spending on the contest has topped $50 million, while Democrats have spent almost $35.2 million, with Trump’s MAGA Inc. and other conservative PACs accounting for the overall Republican advantage.
Cooper had no public events Wednesday, but the state Democratic Party held a morning news conference to criticize Trump, Whatley and inflation. Speakers noted the Republican nominee’s oil and gas investments as the energy sector amasses profits while the Iran war drives up fuel costs. Whatley’s personal financial disclosures to the Senate show that he holds stock in ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and other energy firms. A former energy lobbyist, Whatley backs Trump’s actions in Iran.
“Why would Whatley back a war that is driving up prices for North Carolina families at a time when it’s already too hard for us to get by?” asked state Sen. Woodson Bradley, D-Charlotte. “He’s already shown us everything we need to know.”
Polling averages from Real Clear Polling show Cooper with an average 7.8-point lead over Whatley in the state’s Senate race.
“In North Carolina, what we need to do is listen to the voters and make sure we address their concerns. It’s all about the economy, it’s all about safety in the communities and all about making this the strongest nation on the face of the earth,” said Whatley.
Whatley, who has won the endorsement of several law enforcement groups, has made public safety the centerpiece of his campaign, a topic both the president and Whatley discussed at length during interviews and their respective speeches.
“The reason I’m here today is to espouse Michael Whatley. He’s fantastic. He’s an incredible, talented, wonderful human being. He’s a talented man, and he will do a great job as a Senator. Roy Cooper’s a disaster. He’s a radical left liberal guy; he disguises as a moderate, but he’s not moderate, and he believes on releasing criminals out all over the street,” said Trump.
“(Cooper) marched with rioters back in 2020. This is a pattern right now. His entire career is focused on coddling criminals, and we’re going to make sure they’re behind bars where they belong,” Whatley said.
Cooper was the state’s Attorney General for 16 years prior to serving two terms as governor. In a statement, a Cooper campaign spokesperson defended his record, writing in part: “Roy spent his career putting rapists and violent criminals behind bars and signing tough on crime laws as governor.”
Both Trump and Whatley attacked a COVID-19 era settlement during Cooper’s tenure as governor, which saw the release of more than 3,500 inmates, which came after civil rights groups filed a mandamus petition in the State Supreme Court in April 2020.
According to a timeline provided by the ACLU of North Carolina, in June of that year, a Superior Court Judge ruled the plaintiffs were more likely than not win their claim that those incarcerated during the pandemic were being held unconstitutionally, and months later in February 2021, the settlement was reached by the state and civil rights groups which prompted the release of those prisoners over 180 days.
The Cooper campaign pointed to the federal CARES ACT, passed in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, which expanded the discretion of the Bureau of Prisons to transfer lower-risk inmates to home confinement to serve their full sentences, a figure which has since topped more than 13,000 people.
While the Justice Department during Trump’s first term called for individuals to ultimately re-enter prison when the emergency period ended, the Department during the Biden administration allowed them to remain at home.
Trump stumps for other GOP candidates in NC
Trump also issued his endorsements for Laurie Buckhout, who is running for the US House seat in the redrawn 1st District against incumbent Congressman Don Davis, and State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, who replaced Congressman Chuck Edwards on the ticket after he bowed out of the race following a House Ethics report alleging inappropriate conduct. Balkcom is facing challenger Jamie Ager. Cook Political Report lists both NC-1 and NC-11 as “leans Republican”, with analysts anticipating they will be the two closest House races this cycle.
Cook Political Report lists both NC-1 and NC-11 as “leans Republican”, with analysts anticipating they will be the two closest House races this cycle.
– The Associated Press contributed.
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